Circle of Leandro Bassano (1557 – 1622), Winter

Circle of Leandro Bassano (1557 – 1622)

Winter

Oil on canvas, 78,5 x 93,5 cm

With frame, 86 x 102 cm

Unanimously known as Bassano from the name of their city of origin, Bassano del Grappa, the name was established by art critics during the modern age; that of the “Da Ponte” was a family-run business ante litteram, active for about a century and a half. Started by Francesco the Elder, in the very early years of the sixteenth century, it achieved great appreciation throughout northern Italy with the personality of Jacopo, starting from the second half of the fourth decade, and by his brothers Giambattista and Gianfrancesco. After him, it was his sons Francesco the Younger, Giambattista, Leandro and Gerolamo who interpreted the family tradition. The compositions derive from a series conceived by Jacopo Bassano (1510-1592) and the stylistic characteristics suggest that their execution should be attributed to his school, whose followers can be found active throughout the seventeenth century. This is a work from the early youth of Leandro Bassano, who we know was active in his father's workshop until he moved to Venice in 1584 or, at the latest, in 1588. In that year, in fact, Leandro was registered with the Fraglia of Venetian painters; in Venice, where he had been with his father in 1577-78, he began a profitable career as an author of portraits and altarpieces, not without repeatedly returning to his father's inventions. The activities carried out by the characters are based on those typical of the winter season, also clearly highlighted by the bare trees and the snowy landscape in the background, separated from the scenic point of view with respect to the foreground. In other versions of the work, an isolated biblical scene can also be seen, namely Christ carrying the cross, absent in the latter, where the details linked to daily peasant life are maintained: the gathering of wood, the family around the fire, the animals that link the various parts of the painting and the panorama on the horizon sprinkled with snow. A characteristic that we find in the young Leandro is the accentuation of the shadows in contrast with the vivacity of the colors and highlights, which stand out in the dark environment of the winter night. The tonal richness, the luminous contrasts, the biblical-pastoral subject, the rural scene fit perfectly into the context of the Bassano school painting.